Mysteries with a New England Accent

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Gathered Round

Jessie:In New Hampshire, feeling grateful that unlike last year on Thanksgiving, the snow has not yet started to fly.

One of the things I am grateful for this year is the sense of community built up around this blog. And nothing seems to reinforce the feeling of community like time spent together round a table, sharing stories, experiences and a good meal.

Since we can’t all be together the physical world today I thought it might be nice to imagine seeing all of you around a cyber table. I am imagining a gathering of all of those readers who comment and all of those readers who simply enjoy reading and nodding their heads quietly. I’d love for any of you to join in by mentioning in the comments which favorite food you would like to bring to the feast and maybe a thing you are thankful for this year.

I’m planning to bring my protagonist Dani Greene’s Maple Pumpkin Butter. Dani likes to beat it together with some cream cheese and use it as a dip for pretzels. It is also great on hot toast or spread between the layers of a cake. The recipe comes from my book, A Sticky Situation. Its main ingredient is pumpkin and it always makes me think of Thanksgiving every time I make it.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Maple Pumpkin Butter

30 ounces canned pumpkin puree

1/3 cup maple syrup

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon each ground cloves and cardamom

Spray a slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. In a bowl combine all ingredients then add to the slow cooker. Cook on low setting for 6 hours or until the mixture is reduced to a thick, spreadable consistency.

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About Jessie Crockett

Jessie Crockett wears a lot of hats, both literally and literarily. As Jessie Crockett she is the Daphne Award winning author of Live Free or Die and the nationally bestselling Sugar Grove series. As Jessica Ellicott she has received starred reivews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal for her historical mystery Murder in an English Village. As Jessica Estevao she writes the Agatha Award nominated Change of Fortune Mysteries. She loves the beach, fountain pens, Mini Coopers and throwing parties. She lives in northern New England where she obsessively knits wool socks and enthusiastically speaks Portuguese with a shocking disregard for the rules of grammar.
As Jessie Crockett she’s the author of the nationally bestselling Sugar Grove Mysteries and the Daphne du Maurier Award winner, Live Free or Die.

Oh, wow! I am surely coming to this feast. I also have a local NH maple syrup dip, but it only has cream cheese, maple syrup, and minced garlic. You cannot detect the garlic. Everyone asks what’s in this I want the recipe.

What a wonderful gathering this is! I’ll bring Joe Froggers–the big round soft molasses cookies that originated in Marblehead back in 1798. It’s rum and salt water that keeps them soft for weeks and the fishermen of Marblehead regularly took them to sea. (The recipe is in my book Look Both Ways!)

Happy Thanksgiving my beloved Wickeds!!! Love this idea Jessie, and thanks for the recipe! I will bring my candied yams. I caramelize the brown sugar, and then add bourbon. Layer roasted yams, and the sauce, and let them all sit together over night.

I’ll contribute my grandma’s coffee cake with raisins and brown sugar and nuts, made from the same dough as her bread, and so good no one has ever gotten it quite so perfect . . . but since this is pretend . . . 😉 Happy Thanksgiving, all ❤

My dad said the difference between a country cook and a city cook is that, given same-sized eggs, the country cook will say, “small, better use more” while the city cook will say “so big I’ll use fewer.”

I’m not bringing anything today–but I’m happy to do the dishes, LOL! However, check back tomorrow when I post my recipe that uses up Thanksgiving leftovers: Black Friday Stew. Hope everyone had a wonderful day!